# Parents that are just askin' for it **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 4, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004 "2006-03-04T02:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/121 "2006-03-07T00:34:32Z")
I am told by many family members that I was perilously close to being named "Zsigfried Gustavf ", but at the last moment, cooler heads prevailed. Oh, and those would have been BOTH of my middle names. Yep. My birth certificate shows 4 names. God help me. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/122 "2006-03-07T00:41:23Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > My birth certificate shows 4 names. It’s people like you who caused the name shortage leaving people like me without middle names! 😛 I’ve got a coworker whose daughter’s name is Ryleigh - just too, um, precious… Then there was the former coworker whose girls were named Star and Sparkle. Neither of those names pass the “Ambassador” or “Senator” test. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/123 "2006-03-07T00:50:03Z")
Whiner. Your middle name is **Chat**. It’s right there, plain as the nose on your face. I swear. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/124 "2006-03-07T01:05:42Z")
I’ve always thought the parents of the Hilton sisters (the modern ones, not the conjoined twins) missed an opportunity by not making the girls a matched set: Paris Hilton and Beverly Hilton! ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/125 "2006-03-07T03:00:06Z")
I went to school with a pair of brother named _Hookah_ and _Tron_. Tron got into the movie of the same name for free when it came out. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/126 "2006-03-07T13:56:43Z")
> [@bubble pop electric](#): > > My best friend’s mother’s name is Colleen. > Her sisters are > Kathleen, > Maureen, > and… > Ruth. 😕 > I call her Rutheen, though. There is a reason for this, possibly mentioned before: the “een” sound - ín - on the end of a name is Irish for “diminutive”, and is often applied to girls, similar to the “ko” syllable in Japanese, though it is also applicable to males as well - qv. Michaleen in _The Quiet Man_. So Ruthín is a perfectly reasonable thing to call her! ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/127 "2006-03-07T15:37:01Z")
If we’re going to discuss bad things to name your kid, we cannot forget Shannyn Sossamon of _The Rules of Attraction_, who in 2003 named her son… Audio Science Clayton. She’s a DJ, you see. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/128 "2006-03-07T16:27:29Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > If we’re going to discuss bad things to name your kid, we cannot forget Shannyn Sossamon of _The Rules of Attraction_, who in 2003 named her son… > Audio Science Clayton. > She’s a DJ, you see. And the poor kid will be called Oddy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/129 "2006-03-07T16:47:48Z")
> [@Phèdre nó Delaunay](#): > > My weird name story? There was a girl working in a local fast food restaurant whose nametag proclaimed her to be “Avarice.” Hey, I’ve worked jobs where I had to wear a nametag in public. It had my real name on it only about 50% of the time. My stepdaughters-to-be graduated high school this decade, and swear they know a classmate of theirs who named her baby “Abcde”. Pronounced, if I remember, “A-Bec-Dee”. ---
**Author:** ![gooftroopag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gooftroopag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooftroopag)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/130 "2006-03-07T18:05:53Z")
A coworker of mine named his son Rainey. When we both worked in the main office in Seattle it made more sense, but now they’re in Florida so I expect the next kid to be Stormy, Hurricane or Sunny. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/131 "2006-03-07T18:32:40Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I’ve got a coworker whose daughter’s name is Ryleigh - just too, um, precious… No-no-no. The girl is named R’leyh, after the non-Euclidean city beneath the sea, where Dread Cthulhu lies dreaming. Soon, she shall be a bride of a Deep One, or somesuch. [And they’ll be singing THIS at the wedding.](http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/cthulhu-hymnal/old-one-sleeps-tonight.html) [Or THIS](http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/cthulhu-hymnal/id-hate-to-play-under-rlyeh.html). ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/132 "2006-03-07T19:02:27Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I recently met an “Atom” and a “Tigger”. > > I also once met a “Melena”. Ewww. [Atom Egoyan](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000382/) seems to have done okay with his first name. FWIW, he did have his name changed. But it was his last name, formerly “Yeghoyan”. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/133 "2006-03-07T19:50:09Z")
I went to summer camp with a Michael and Sean. They were sisters. Both insisted that heavens no, their parents hadn’t wanted boys! Riiiight. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/134 "2006-03-07T20:22:47Z")
**Lissa** writes: > [@](#): > > LaTeisha > LaMeisha > LaKeisha > LaVisha > LaDeisha > > And not all of them were girls. !! Do you live in or near Utah? Utah is the home of weird “La-…” names. I’vwe known or known of **LaDawn** and **LaBelle** and **LaNette** (_not_ “Lynette”) out in The Beehive State. But at least they were all girls ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/135 "2006-03-07T20:38:42Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > They gave their daughter a name with strong associations with _abortion?_ :eek: Whoa…so that’s what that Nirvana song was about! ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/136 "2006-03-07T20:39:19Z")
Working in the admissions office, I get to see a lot of this kind of stuff from prospective students. My favorite: DeJon Butter. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/137 "2006-03-07T21:00:52Z")
> [@Ultraviolet](#): > > Now Neev sounds lovely, but Nye-am?!? Do some research, people! OH! I totally forgot to mention my dear college roommate, totally sweet girl, who was named **Eowyn** , pronounced “YO-win.” Her parents evidently liked Tolkein, but didn’t understand accent marks. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/138 "2006-03-07T21:27:55Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > My wife worked at the local hospital when we lived on Kwajalein. \ Wow, a fellow Kwajer! I was there in 87/88 and absolutely loved it! ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/139 "2006-03-07T23:08:56Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Anyone here read the book, _Freakanomics_? There’s a chapter in there about kids’ names–interesting. Yep - the killer was the girl named “Temptress” who was screwing around (literally) in her early teens (or maybe it was 11?). Her mother thought she was naming her after the middle daughter on “The Cosby Show” - **Tempestt** Bledsoe (bad enough as **it** is, at least it doesn’t carry connotations of “slut”). She also did not know what the word “temptress” meant. Somehow, the girl managed to live up to it, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004/140 "2006-03-08T01:21:54Z")
Just remembered another one… **Malice Green** , a black man who was killed by some Detroit cops back in 1992, spurring some serious rioting IIRC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-that-are-just-askin-for-it/347004.md?page=8)